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Topic: The World of Acqua (Read 26001 times)

The FirePeak Islands are the tops of mainly dormant or extinct volcanos that stretch thousands of feet down to the sea bed.They are inhabited by tribes of humans who have intermarried and who normally live at peace with each other. In the past there were some fearsome tribal wars but now the tribes tend to live peacefully together, unless someone does something unforgiveable like intertribal rape or murder.

They live on the local fruit of their islands, as well as on herds of pigs.Every year in the hottest month, come the Great Ships from Banhosea, to trade with them.For two weeks beforehand everybody except the very young, the very old, and the sick, gather together piles of fruit and small herds of pigs,and chunks of amythest from their islands.

Then they blow on conch-horns and beat their pigskin drums and tamberines as three great ten-masted ships sail in along with a whole squadron of smaller craft.The traders have arrived, bringing them iron axes, beautiful amber beads, small numbers of cattle, and different kinds of fruit to the ones that they have.

The traders wind down crates of what the islanders desire, and the islanders reply after emptying the crates by filling them with the fruit and pigs and amythest that the traders want in return.Nobody cheats each other as both sides feel that it would not be in their interest to do so.When the traders leave the tribes have a three day festival of drinking and dancing and celebrating,with new food to eat.

In the winter the sea grows stormy and the winds blow hard, so the people mainly stay within their wooden houses and light fires against the cold.

Banhosea is the largest of the islands and most parts of it are highly overcrowded and have been built over.The island is mostly a maze of twisted streets and alleys. There is a one child policy but the penalty for more then one child is either to pay a heavy fine or have the child taken away and sold for auction. The very rich have no trouble paying the fine. There is a lot of discontent about this, but only the armed forces, the Banhosea Police,nobles, and members of the De Madden Company (the latter whilst out at sea only) can legally carry weapons. The penalty for illegal weapon carrying is death by hanging or by cremation whilst still alive, or, which is in practise far more common then either of these fates, slavery.

Slaves

The slaves are the lowest of the low and are normally criminals,which is how they sunk to that status.They do all the most dull and dangerous jobs that no sane free person would wish to do.Any slave found with a weapon is executed...free people found with illegal weapons are only executed if they have committed murder,rape or treason as well.Slaves have no rights but if someone kills or badly injures someone else's slave, he/she must pay the owner a heavy fine or face him/herself being enslaved.

Free people

The free people's lives vary enormously in quality. At the bottom some are so poor that their lives can be worse then that of the slaves. Then there are the workers that, depending on how hard they work and the job they do, can become rich or even, in a few cases, make it into the ranks of the nobility.The nobility is not one that people are born into, although the children of nobles are far more likly to also be able to earn that position. It is technicly possible for a noble to sink into poverty and lose the rank or for a poor person, as long as he or she is free,to become a noble. Nearly all nobles hold high rank in the De Madden Company.

Nobles

Nobles are the richest of the rich and there are not many of them.They hold all the highest posts and are expected to work hard at their jobs and not just to laze around or they could lose the job and the rank that they hold.Even after death a noble who dies in office is treated differently.Whilst slaves,poor people and the vast majority of the middle class and even the rich are cremated ,nobles are buried in tombs with coins on their eyes.

The Eclipse G'ThrannDeep beneath the waves, where the sunlight cannot be seen and all is darkness, lives the gargantuan terrors of the deep; creatures of darkness, devourers of cities. Often called the Eclipse Horror, or the Eclipse G'Thrann among scholars, they are sensitive to sunlight and never emerge from the depths, save when there is an eclipse.

The eclipses of Acqua* are phenomenal and day long occurences when the red gas giant, which Acqua orbit, block out the sun entirely. During this time the G'Thrann seek the surface to feed and to mate. Their calls for a mate are piercing sounds; wailing and endlessly long, immensly loud. For a human the sound is unbearable and horrifying, an omen of destruction and desolation.

The G'Thrann have never been fully described but are thought to be jet black and snake shaped. When they arrive at coastal villages and cities their entire bulk is pulled on shore, crushing entire blocks of the city. There it rests, its wail attracting females, while strange pseudopods enter windows and doors in search of food.

*The Red Gas giant, eclipses and so on will be detailed by Cheka at a later stage.

OOC-For you AG, I'll describe the Gas Giant ect, earlier then I would have done.

IC-Acqua is not a planet in it's own right, but is one of the moons of the great red gas planet Jove. Jove is slightly bigger then our solar system's Jupiter, and is mostly composed of massive amounts of hydrogen and helium gas, the lighter then air helium being kept within the planet by it's heavy gravity.Massive blue spot storms shoot along the *surface* of red gas, moving at up to a thousand miles an hour, and are studied by a few astromoners and astrologiers,and by leading spellcasters too.

Acqua's orbit is eliptical, so the planet seems from the point of view of an inhabitant to grow and shrink in the sky, from the size of a moon as seen from the ground, to the size of a fist.The further away the planet is, the colder it is, and the more magic can be cast using the same amount of amythest.In the winter it is cold even at the equator of Acqua and freezing near the poles, and in the summer the equator region is tropical and most of the polar ice melts. The gravitational pull of the gas giant coupled with the melting sea ice causes great tides that flood a lot of the land, but everybody is used to it. Some cities are built out of reach of the largest tide, others have sea walls to protect them. There are villages built on stilts or even in large boats.One way or another the different peoples manage to cope with the flood.Although individals may drown,most people survive,and everyone is taught the dangers of the sea from the very start of their lives.

Every few decades there is a partal eclipse when the sun is partly covered by the edge of the gas giant in such a way that the light shines through the gas and is coloured blood red, which is taken to be an ill omen.Strange creatures are more likely to rise from the sea at such a time. Total eclipses happen on average once a century and are greatly feared because of the G-Thrann.Both total and partial eclipses last an entire day because of the size of the gas planet.

Jove has other moons too but only one is close enough to Acqua to be as big as our moon, the rest are only clearly visible with powerful telescopes. The close moon is covered with ice which makes it twice as bright as ours.

The De Madden Company trades in a great many things,apart from weapons, but the thing prized above all others in Banhosea and most of the rest of Acqua is amythest which powers the magic of the world.The largest ships of the company are the great ten masted ships with catapaults mounted along the sides that can fire rocks or fireballs. A ship of this kind needs hundereds of crew and several weather mages and officers. and is acompanied by whole squadrons of smaller and less well armed but more manoverable ships.

The De Madden Company is licensed not only to trade with any friendly powers but to confiscate any amythest they find in another vessel. Pirates and, more commanly, smugglers, are the bane of the lives of the Company bosses. There are cases where whole fleets of pirates have gathered together to attack the Company vessels,despite the threat of a hanging from the yardarm for any captured pirates.

Piracy on such a scale is rare, but amythest smuggling is common despite great attempts made to crack down.Amythest is so important because without it no spells can be cast. The magical reaction turns the amythest into black smoky quartz and once used, it has no further magical powers.

In Banhosea the Company also deals in housing,food,and many other things, as well as running the goverment of the island.

OOC-In the next part, how magic works on Acqua,and what it is legally (and illegally) used for.

Magic on Acqua is connected to amythest.Without it, no magic can take place at all, and sooner or later it will run out, as each piece can only be used once.The bigger the chunk of amythest the bigger the spell can be.The De Madden Company spends a lot of time finding, buying and transporting it. The biggest single chunk of amythest ever found was the size of a small wooden chest and sits to this day in one of the De Madden strongrooms.

Mages use a lot of mental energy to cast spells, so casting for too long makes them tired and can cause long term mental damage.Trained people are less likely to be harmed.To cast a spell you need to know the name of your target, so people have a nickname they are called openly by, and a name that their father or mother gives them at the age of ten.It is an act of the greatest trust to share one's true name with someone. Of course, all properly trained mages know the word for "human" but such a spell can be dodged.A spell with the target's true name in it cannot be dodged.

Sea Wizards/Witches can (to an extent) summon winds, calm waves that would otherwise sink ships, can turn floods and most sea creatures away (for a while anyway), can cause or stop rain, and are highly regarded and highly paid.They are so well regarded that they can sometimes get away with things that nobody else could.A proper Sea Wizard or Sea Witch is welcome anywhere.In Banhoesea and in certain city-islands Sea Wizards and Sea Witches wear black leather jackets with a blue *patch* on the back, and it is a serious criminal offense to wear such a jacket if you are not one of them,even if you are a rich noble.

Land Wizards/Witches can start fires and cast various other kinds of magic. In Banhoesea they face conscription into the armed forces for five years, although they are given the rank of junior officers .Whilst they are well paid and respected they are nowhere near as rich or as respected as their Sea equivilants.

Necromancers , also known as Chaos Mages are feared and hated by most people and are illegal almost everywhere.Their magic is illegal and if found out they are either killed by being cremated alive, or are just cut down, or at the least, if they have done a lot of good in the past, are gagged when not eating or drinking and are kept locked up.

The Sky God Jove fell in love with the Moon Goddess Ulmania (the Moon Goddess is the silver moon that can be easily seen in the sky from Acqua.)In those days Jove was beleaved to be a calm blue. They mated and Acqua was their son. Jove later grew jealous, violent and paranoid and Ulmania feared for her life, so she took her son and they tried to flee but Jove followed them.He grew furious and red with rage and his face became ever changing.Acqua began to cry and that was how the oceans were formed upon it's surface, the rain being Acqua's tears.

He constantly tries to pull Acqua back to him, creating the huge tidal floods as he pulls one way and Ulmania pulls the other way. The heat of his rage produces summer, whilst Ulmania's rage is ice cold and produces winter.Acqua,torn between his parents, cries frequently.

It is thought that Acqua will either freeze or boil at the end of the world, when one of his angry parents finally gets him away from the other one for good.

The Mists of the Ang'Karathian SeaThe Ang'Karathian Sea has been haunted by the alien mists for millennia. This mist appear out of nowhere and completely block all vision save for a few meters, which has caused alot of shipwrecks throughout history. But what the sailors fear even more is the legend of the Mist Wraith. The legends tell of ships entering the mist and when the mist lift, the entire crew can be found on deck or in their cabins, fully drained of all bodily fluids; nothing more than dry husks, a lifeless parody of their former selves.

The Eternal LighthouseSomewhere in the Sea of Tears, the goddess Ulmania erected a lighthouse; a gift to the seafaring peoples, so that they may safely traverse the dangerous seas. Thus it may be that when a particular ship, captained by a man favoured of Ulmania, is in dire peril, the Eternal Keeper will light the beacon of the lighthouse, providing a light for the captain to follow.

OOC:Cheka Man. I suggest you write about cities, island nations, organizations, unique plants and animals, monsters and humans, known heroes and powerful leaders. The above two are examples based on Earth's sea legends (Bermuda Strait and St.Elmo's fire). You could easily find other, equivalent myths to twist into Acqua phenomenons.

The Regulators are feared by many as raiders and pirates but they have a firm base of support in the Golden Hills. The Golden Hills are the tops of a huge undersea mountian chain. In the past the De Madden Company sent slavers there and they kiddnapped many of the inhabitants and stole a large deposit of amythest.

Then a pirate ship arrived and the men, who had become pirates after committing a mutiny and had nothing to lose as they had committed two capital offenses allready, took a vote and decided to do something that pirates did not normally do.They would protect the surviving tribespeople from attacks in return for a secure base. When the slavers came back the pirates were waiting for them and chopped them down,whilst other pirates took their ship.

The pirates voted to become the Regulators, and made a *patch* with a skull with fins on it.

To most people in the outside world they are a terror and undoubtably they have murdered many who do not deserve it, burned villages and certain towns and have committed at least a few rapes.However, they have also done some *good* things as well. They have freed slaves and prisoners, robbed greedy tax collecters and rich nobles who have made themselves unpopular with the public,and treated the tribe of the Golden Hills very well indeed,rather then slaughtering or enslaving them.

Many ships have been taken and each is manned by a *chapter* of Regulators. The Regulators *strip down* many of the ships to make them faster.The wood and rope and sailcloth has been used for many things. Wooden walls to protect their islands both from attack and from high tides. Rope bridges, sailcloth hammocks, large crossbows set up at various points...none of what is stripped down is wasted.Jettys and houses have been made and used to expand the living space on the islands.

Those who want to join serve for a month as prospects,and are then either voted in or put ashore somewhere safe.Secret contacts in Banhoesea and other places help them sell their plunder. Officers are elected for a twenty year period from long term members. A Regulator is expected to obey his or her officers (most Regulators are male), to defend their *colours* to the death, and not to undermine their support base in the Golden Hills by needless violence.Their *support base* is where their wives and children come from.Many pirates have joined them.There have been cases where Regulators have caught unauthorized people flying the Regulator colurs, and have beaten them half to death as a warning.There have been cases where those who have put up a good fight have been offered a place in their ranks.

The De Madden Company hates them and wants them destroyed but shoals prevent the mighty ten masters from getting anywhere near them, whilst smaller craft have been twice defeated in two major battles.Also, the De Maddens would rather get money through trade then spend it on warfare.

OOC-I decided to have a cross between Viet Cong types, Hell's Angels, and "Robin Hood and his merry men" type pirates, so in effect the Regulators are both good and evil. If they were purely evil they could not survive, but with a firm support base, they are a proverbial thorn in the side of the De Madden Company.

By no means all the countries on Acqua have the death penalty.There are countries where they have virtually, for one reason or another, abolished it.But that does not mean that the people there like criminals. Therefore they have sent their life sentence prisoners to a small group of far away islands.The seas of such islands are dangerous even by Acquan standards, with strong currants, deadly sea creatures, and patrolling naval vessels to destroy the boats of escapees.

Arsonist's Isle is a horrible place, burnt black by all the fires that are set by the imnates, who have to live on fish and lobsters that they catch in pots and drink soot stained water.

Murderer's Isle is a highly dangerous place to be, where murders are common, and most surviivors who are not quickly killed have joined one of a number of large gangs who often fight each other to the death.

Rapist's Isle is where rapists are sent, with noone to rape but each other.

Insane Isle is for the incurably insane and dangerous, who are unfit for soceity. It is beleaved by some that a few political prisoners have been secretly sent there by their goverments.

Naiads are sea nymphs, but instead of living in trees they live in large chunks of coral.They are around two feet shorter then humans, and much stockier, and exist in both male and female forms.They mostly live on sunlight, plankton, and seaweed,and most fish do not fear them for this reason.A few naiads have been seen riding dolphins.Whilst dryads die when their tree is cut or blown down (most die after about seven hundred years) naiads can live for thousands of years, as long as their coral reef is intact.The skin of a naiad is hard, very hard, as hard as coral, so stabbing weapons and fists and feet have very little effect on it.Unlike humans, those naiads who know magic can cast spells without using amythest, by using part of their life force, but it injures them and a large spell would harm the caster badly, perhaps leading to death.

Naiads rarely go ashore so normally have no trouble with humans.This all changed when the De Madden Company sent human divers using leather airbags attached to their mouths,so they could breath, to chip out the coral, to sell to worthy people.During the cutting a naiad child was killed as the chunk that was sacred to her was chopped loose.Heartbroken and furious, the naiad family killed two of the divers,battering them to death, and chased the others away.

Whilst the deaths of two divers did not mean very much to the Company bosses, the open defiance of the Company angered them greatly. A month later three of the largest ships in the Company fleet, two galleys and a great ten masted vessel, arrived in the area. Rowing with their sails out and in the direction of the wind for extra speed, the galleys dragged a chain between them across the seabed, smashing or damaging the coral, whilst the great ten master dropped rocks that it would normally fire from it's onboard catapaults at troublesome towns, smashing more coral. Many naiads were killed but some of the survivors went underneath the bottom of the ten master with swords and axes taken from a recent shipwreck of a patrol vessel, and with their great strength chopped great holes in the hull and sank it.

As well as weapons, a great mixture of unusall land foods and various other items, they found a great quantity of amythest in the hold. The crew drowned or were killed by the naiads.

The Company bosses were outraged at the loss of one of their finest ships and the ton of amythest that it contained.They spent months having some of their warships fitted with axeproof copper bottoms,and designing new spells and weapons that could be dropped from ships to destroy coral.They took rubbish along that would normally be recycled or burnt, to poison the coral.They were determined to wipe the naiads out.

The naiads were waiting for them and used a large part of the amythest to cast a Storm spell that was so powerful that the Company Sea Wizards could not quell it. Another ten master and a whole flotilla of smaller vessels were sunk or ran aground because of the great waves and more amythest was taken from the wrecks. The naiads then threatened to take the war to Banhoesea's many harbours and really stir up trouble if the Company did not leave them alone.

Fearing serious trade disruption the Company backed down but it's top bosses still want revenge and are determined one day to make the naiads pay for humilating them.

The Sea-Spiders are bizarre and evil undead beings who dwell on the open sea. Named for they spidery and otherworldly manner in which they skitter along the underside of the ocean waves, the Sea-Spiders are a deadly threat to any who sail the seas of Acgua.

Sea-Spiders, also called Lacedons, are ghoulish creatures who possess the strange ability to crawl across the under-surface of the ocean like a spider crawls along a wall. They are humanoid in body, but they are repulsive in appearance, being extremely thin and wiry, with wide, splayed hands, flat, long-toed feet, and stroke legs. Their flesh is rubbery and waxy, like that of a corpse, and is covered in a coat of stiff, prickly black hairs. Their smooth, round heads have no ears, and they have only vestigial nostrils on their flat faces, but their mouths are huge and toothy, caught always in a ghoulish rictus of hunger, and augmented with evil hooked mandibles. Their eyes are the puffy, bloated, and bugging eyes of drowned men, swollen with water and blood. Sea-Spiders often wear the tattered remnants of the clothing which they died in.

Sea-Spiders are born when a person dies at sea, and are instinctively driven to return to the surface. Travelling in horrible packs, they crawl along the sea's ceiling, waiting for unsuspecting ships. Then, like a pack of dark wolves, they swarm from the water and cover the ship, a hissing blanket of hairy dead men, slaying and eating the crew and dragging the ship down into the lightless watery depths, never again to be seen.

Sea-Spiders can be killed by a wound through their hearts, or by being brought to dry land, where they dessicate and turn to dust. In addition, a sending ceremony and funeral held in their honor with an item which belonged to them in life can cause a Sea-Spider to repent and depart for the Isle of the Dead.

The ruler of Banhoesea, who has almost total power, is the Shogun (although behind his back there are a few who dare to nickname him the "Lord High Admiral".) His post is not passed down from father to son, as it is thought that such a thing could lead to under-aged or weak Shoguns. Being born into the right family, however, is a big help to those who wish to become Shogun. When a Shogun dies, a new one is elected for life by the small number of Captains who command the mighty ten masted ships and sit on the Company Council. (CC)

Shoguns may have a lot of power but they are expected to behave as a ruler should.Every few years, when there is a very important voyage to be made, or if a serious war should break out, they are expected to board a ten masted ship and lead the fleet. Although ten masted craft are the safest vessels afloat, there have been cases where even they have sunk, taking their Shogun with them.Nobody who sails far from land can consider themselves totally safe from the mighty sea.

Below the Shogun and the CC are the captains and lieutenants of the other craft, the Sea Wizards/Witches, the bosun's,and then the ordinary crewmen.Dress for both the officers and men is normally plain and functional, with no "fancy-smancy" gaudy uniforms. Officers wear golden shoulder boards but otherwise dress like their men. Sea Wizards/Witches wear their *patches* and amythest necklaces.There are exceptions-in the heat of battle, when it is important that officers are recognized,some gain permission to wear gaudy gold braid and three cornered hats so their men know who to follow.This is a double edged cutlass-their men know them, but so do those who they are fighting against, and many officers have been killed and their bodies thrown into the sea because they chose to wear fancy clothes.

Discipline for both men and officers,including Wizards/Witches, is strict. Men who fight each other, steal or otherwise misbehave are flogged.More serious offenders are hanged, marooned on small islands or sometimes just thrown into the sea,far from all land, and left to drown. Officers who disobey orders are not flogged but are fined or reduced in rank,or, for dreadful offenses, thrown overboard.

However, discipline by itself does not make good sailors. The pay and food is good, and the sailors are encouraged to take pride in themselves and their ships.Officers who continually harm their men without reason are demoted and sent to command smaller ships where the chance of not surviving the next voyage is greater.The smaller the ship, the bigger the chance there is of sinking or being attacked by Sea Spiders and other horrors.

The ten masters may be mighty in battle,with catapualts on their decks, but because of reefs and shoals they cannot sail in many areas.Below them are the five masters,three masters, two masters and single mast ships.

Dreaded are the ghost ships of the Silver Fleet. Several centuries ago, it is said that the Shogun Kenjo ordered his fleet to put to sea in a mighty storm, and vowed that he would sail until Doomsday if he had to, cursing Jove and Ulmania for holding him back.So powerful was the storm that it blew the entire fleet onto reefs and there were no survivors.Shoertly afterwards, it is said, there was the first sighting of the Silver Fleet, forty strong, ranging from great ten masters to small craft, glowing with a silver light.Those few who have encountered them and survived have reported that the ships are crewed by rotting bodies.The Shogun himself is skelital and seen standing on the quarterdeck of his flagship.

The Silver Fleet is not directly dangerous as it has never been known to attack anybody.However, when it appears,and it never appears in daylight, allways at night, the clouds and a thick fog roll in,so the moon and stars and Jove, and the islands cannot be seen,and all magic fails on any ship nearby.Divining, starting,stopping,and directing the wind,and even the most basic navigation, is all impossible whilst the Silver Fleet sails.Many ships have holed themselves on reefs and gone to the bottom of the sea because of this.The only way to be safe is to drop anchor and wait for the Silver Fleet to vanish again,and this is not allways possible.Noone can tell when the Silver Fleet will appear...it might not appear for a century and then appear every night for a whole month.

Those ships who sink because of the Silver Fleet,are destined to join it.By now the Fleet is hundereds strong. Any attempt to harm it fails as objects go straight through it, and boarding parties fall through the imaterial ships and end up chilled and in the water.

Almost as feared as the Sea Spiders and the Silver Fleet are the Sirens, who are thought to be the souls of drowned women. Their call is hypnotic and there is a one in five chance that someone hearing the call will throw himself or herself overboard to be with them. They are not beautiful, their rotting, stinking bodies being covered with sores and decaying flesh.They drag those who jump overboard down and drown the person.Males drowned by them become Sea Spiders,and females who die by their hand join their ranks.

Like Sea Spiders, a wound in the heart or being taken to dry land turns them to dust, and a funeral conducted using an item that belonged to them may persuade them to go to the Isle of the Dead.

Their stink normally gives people a thirty second warning to go below out of range of their song or block their ears,or they would claim many more lives then they do.

Yep, it is sure looking good. Seeing as how you have mentioned Ulmania alot, you might also want to consider describing the faith, not just the legends about her and Jove. (You know; structure, Arch-Priests, acolytes, clerical powers and so on).

Very cool setting, Cheka. The setting is interesting and well described. My only qualm is that I wanted to do a water world (It was gonna have kobolds too...)! Anyway, being serious, I urge you to continue!

There are many different kinds of octopus, squid and kraken in Acqua's seas.A lot of these are harmless to humans, but the few that are dangerous tend to be highly dangerous.

Octopuses

These range from the size of a coin to three times the size of a human, but are normally shy and retiring and don't attack unless provoked.Even then they are more likely to flee then fight. One type, known as the bluegreen because of it's colouring, is the size of a human hand and does not flee from humans with good reason. It's bite is deadly poisonous, and within five minites of being bitten all the muscles of the bitten one sieze up and the heart stops beating.A few assassins try to catch this poisonus little beast but most leave it well alone. Fishermen and fisherwomen wear thick gloves to stop themselves being accidently bitten when they haul in their nets.Only a handful of sea creatures can prey on the bluegreen and are immune to the poison.

Squids

These are mainly small but there are rumours of Kraken-sized squid that rarely come to the surface.The squids found in surface waters are rarely a problem, and again, the bigger ones would normally prefer to flee then fight, unless they are cornered.

Kraken

These are deadly creatures known as the dragons of the sea.They look rather like octopuses but, though the juveniles are the size of the largest known octopuses, the adults are large, and the biggest have been known on at least one occasion to pull down a two-master and pluck the crew from a three-master's deck.

They have ten tentacles like a squid does. Eight of their tentacles are *normal* and sucker covered, the other two are longer and at the end of each one is a tooth filled mouth.Adult Kraken can bite humans in two with these. As well as their mouths they have a great beak, but this is not the most dangerous thing about them. Kraken are intelligent beings and, if they can get access to amythest, it is said that they can cast deadly spells of their own. Of course, very few Kraken ever get access to amythest in any quantity.One of the few who did was the Kraken known as "Big Red".

It is beleaved that the G-Thrann may be Giant Krakens but noone has got close enough to one to find out and lived to tell the tale.

OOC-Minsk, you are welcome to create your own waterworld-mine is not the only one around.But if you want to add things to mine please let me know in advance.I don't want kobolds in Acqua.

Big Red is one of the most powerful of all Krakens. There was once a Mage on Kossior Island, who had studied the Krakens in books and from dry land until he made a spell that would let him speak their tongue. For a long while he did not dare to use it, until news came from a nearby island of an attack by a boatload of Regulators.And so the Mage got into a small boat and paddled out to Big Red, who decided to eat him, but was enormously surprised when the puny human spoke in his own speech and forgot his hunger.The Mage asked for aid and promised amythest in return, for his island was blessed with a large amount of the stuff.

Big Red agreed and when the boatload of Regulators turned up, he sank the boat and ate them. He was powerful even then. The Mage kept his word and placed several chunks of amythest in the sea next to Big Red.And so it was that Big Red became the protector of Kossier Island, eating those who would cause harm to the islanders, scaring the sharks away so that they could swim, and warning if a large wave was coming, for he could sense it. In return he got, over the days and weeks and months, a large supply of amythest, plus the occasional human sacrafice of a criminal, plus the threats that he ate.He also got a lot of respect, almost like a God.As he lay amongst the amythest, he grew bigger then many of his kind, basking in the magical field.

He ordered the islanders to begin amythest trading with other islands, allways taking his cut from any trade. All benifitted. The islanders, of which there were not very many, grew rich from the trade and had many luxuries.And they no longer feared attacks by pirates and Regulators. They opened an amythest mine and part of it, of course, went to *feeding* Big Red with his tribute.Big Red grew huge and proud and happy.

After a few years the De Maddens grew to hear of this illegal trading and sent a three master to punish the islanders and take over the amythest.-, but the captian made the mistake of shouting over to the islanders exactly what he planned to do to them.The Mage told Big Red, and Big Red pulled the three master below the waves and ate the entire crew.Whilst smaller ships had been sunk by Krakens,never had a three master been pulled underwater before. Big Red was not going to have any Company interfereing with him.

Years later the Company sent a ten master to the scene.News had leaked out and they wanted revenge on the Kraken.Big Red said a powerful spell of it's own kind that cracked open the bottom of the ten master and sent it to the bottom, the first time the humans had ever heard and seen a Kraken using magic.Kraken magic, by the way, only works if a Kraken uses it.Humans who try allways fail and become very ill as well.Big Red let a few survivors escape to report what had happened.The effort had shrunk him and turned a lot of his amythest into smoky quartz, but there was plenty more where that came from.

Now the islanders are rich and happy, although they cannot go to Banhoesea or islands close to it for fear of the Company's wrath.Big Red has regrown to an impressive size.He could probebly get even bigger but he does not want to get so big that he gets trapped by shoals.He is worshipped like a god and loves the praise.

Recently he has become far more demanding in his tribute requests.It was allways accepted that he could eat invaders and serious criminals, but now he has began demanding a young maiden to eat once every six months.The maiden chosen to die is treated for two days as a Queen, fed with the best food there is and dressed in beautiful clothes, and is well guarded at all times. Then her hands are bound behind her back and she is taken into a boat and rowed out to Big Red, who pulls her underwater with a tentacle to his beak, where he eats her. Unwilling to sacrafice their own daughters the islanders have begun kiddnapping girls from other islands, binding and gagging them during transportation.Sooner or later they will be found out and will end up in an all out war with their neighbours.

I think I will just let you fellows orchestrate the lore of Acqua yourselves as you seem to be doing just fine as is, I'd just clutter everything up with my inane ramblings. I'll just sulk around for a while and later start my own setting, after all, I'm sure there's enough room on Strolen for two water worlds! Anyway, keep up the good work!